fossil of the weekend #90

the very famous braincase of Troodon, found in what would become the staff parking lot at the tyrrell museum (it was found during final surveys of the museums construction site). it is currently on display as part the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fossil of the weekend #89

a potentially new species of Prognathodon, a mosasaur, on display as part the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fossil of the weekend #88

the amazingly complete skeleton of the fresh water skate Myledaphus, part of the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fossil of the weekend #87

the articulated arm of the small theropod Saurornitholestes langstoni a part of the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fossil of the weekend #86

a still unstudied titanoideid from alberta, part of the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

this large mammal was part of herbivorous group called the pantodonts which rose to prominence shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. for reasons unknown they too would eventually become extinct, and leave behind no living relatives today...

fossil of the weekend #85

a clutch of some of alberta's first ever discovered dinosaur eggs from devil's coulee, on display at the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed". these eggs are definitely hadrosaur eggs (as shown by fossil embryos found within) and were mostly likely laid by hypacrosaurus whose adult remains have been found in the same fossil beds.

fossil of the weekend #84

a double whammy of ceratopsian goodness today, brought to you by the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".


first we have the holotype material of eotriceratops xerinsularis.

plus the beautiful reconstruction the museum made based on this material. very nice (also huge, which this photo doesn't really show off)!

fossil of the weekend #83

a skeleton of the cretaceous ichythosaur Platypterygius americanus, from the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fossil of the weekend #82

a lovely skull of edmontonia from the royal tyrrell museum's 25th anniversary display "alberta unearthed".

fun fact, this is the same skull of "edmontosaurus" that was being prepped in john accorn's video on preperation still shown in the museum these days (though they covered up this mistake on the in house version with a re-recording, you can still buy the original version on DVD at the gift shop).

my readers get a choice!... plus fossil of the weekend #81

today's a big hatching day... only it is not for a person (or a dinosaur... or anything living in fact)!

it was 25 years ago TODAY that the royal tyrrell museum first opened!!!

now as my coverage of the dinosaur winter OH-lympics is dreadfully behind, i'm left with a choice. delay my posts about the 25th anni or pause my OH-lympic posts, and bring you the tyrrell stuff "live" (technically a day or two after they go down...). rather than make the hard call myself, i leave this tricky decision with you, my readers...

do i keep on posting vancouver, and touching on drum after that. or take a week off the OH-lympics and bring you the tyrrell's 25th anni? leave your preference in the comment section.

(i will disclaim as i'm leaving for drumheller as i write this, that i have no idea just how interesting or uninteresting the anni will be from a blogging point of view... just so you're forewarned)

to celebrate, i kick off the several weekends of fossils from the tyrrell's new celebration exhibit "alberta unearthed". this new display consists of 25 of the tyrrell's most impressive and cool fossil discoveries covering the entire range of palaeontology the province has to offer. (it is definitely worth a trip to see!)

the first highlighted fossil is this amazing 3 dimensionally preserved albertosaurus, prepared by tyrannosaur chronicles friend darren tanke!

another of my friends famous!

the royal tyrrell museum just put up on their youtube channel a video all about my friend tony!

it's all about a day in his life at the museum, though i don't think it really conveys his job well (having done a similar one myself for a time), but it does really bring tony across!

i think they should have done a video about an untypical day in his life... like this one or this one... in those cases he really was a superhero of sorts!

oh well. it is good to see the museum recognizing some of its top talent, and awesome to see tony doing what he does best (well at least sort of see it)...

[also i'm back... so comments will be immediately moderated and i can talk to people]

fossil of the weekend #75

yes much like everything else on this blog, i've been negligent on my fossils of the weekend (again).

as a sort of reboot, i offer a different take on my first ever fossil of the weekend...


a much better lite picture of my aunt black beauty, who prowls the "lords of the land" hall at the royal tyrrell museum.

fossil of the weekend! #70

a wall mounted cast of gryposaurus at the royal tyrrell museum. there are a few bits of skin impressions around this skeleton, can you spot them all?

fossil of the weekend! #69

a cast skeleton of Euoplocephalus and a (crazy!) pursuing Albertosaurus, at the royal tyrrell museum.

fossil of the weekend! #68

a rather nice (though slightly crushed) skull of albertosaurus, on display at the royal tyrrell museum.

fossil of the weekend! #67

a rather lovely original skull of a champsosaur, the "crocodile lizard" which is the perfect name for this critter. despite its crocodilian appearance, champsosaurs were a type of lizard like reptile that independantly reentered the water and evolved very similar characteristics to crocs. a perfect example of convergent evolution, where two animals living the same life style tend to evolve similar (but yet subtley different) means of living that same life.

fossil of the weekend! #66

stupid innerweb! i had this post all set to go up for this weekend... as i was going to be busy with the first OH-lympic event (working on the post as we speak!). here was what you should have gotten this weekend...


a cast of the cool transitional Tiktaalik, not a fish but not quite an amphibian. a "missing link" if you will, not that that term is used anymore... as this guy probably isn't directly related to amphibians but rather an off shot from the lineage. yet he still gives us an insight into what this transitionary form sort of looked like!

fossil of the weekend! #65

a cast skull of carnotaurus on display at the royal tyrrell museum.

fossil of the weekend! #64

a large ammonite on display at the royal tyrrell museum. this particular specimen exhibits the rather unique preservation known as ammolite. this is only known to occur in ammonites fossilized near the northern rocky mountains.

the photo doesn't do it credit, this shell actually refracts the whole light spectrum rather like a CD or DVD. very pretty and cool! these particular shells (coming from a common and well understood species) are mined for use in jewelry. due to its beauty and abundance in the province, ammolite is alberta's official gemstone.

fossil of the weekend! #63

the mounted cast skeleton of my aunt black beauty (a tyrannosaurus rex, of course) at the royal tyrrell museum. in anticipation of their upcoming 25th anniversary display!